Contact Rustic Pathways: Find the Right Teen Travel Program
Talk to an advisor
+1 (440) 975-9691Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm US Eastern. Eastern time is UTC−4 from March to November and UTC−5 for the rest of the year.
Rustic Pathways answers general inquiries within one business day, safety questions within four hours, and emergencies immediately. Families of students currently traveling have 24/7 emergency access, and the number sits with the daily itinerary in the parent portal at myrustictrip.com.
Families in time zones where those hours fall overnight can ask for a callback instead. The form below takes a preferred time.
Rustic Pathways has run teen travel programs for students ages 14 to 18 since 1983, and now operates in 38 countries.
Get program recommendations
What should I have ready before I call?
Four things make the first conversation useful.
- The student's age. Programs are built for ages 14 to 18 and grouped age-proximate.
- Travel dates or season. Spring break and summer run on the high school calendar.
- Any destinations already of interest. Even a rough shortlist narrows things quickly.
- What the student wants out of it. Service, language, adventure, or a specific subject.
Families without a destination in mind can ask an advisor which programs are most popular for a given age and interest. That is a normal way to start.
Where does my message go?
| What you need | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Teen travel, spring break or summer | rustic@ |
| School trips | groups@ |
| Gap year | gap@ |
| Safety and risk questions | safety@ |
| Accessibility and accommodations | rustic@ |
| A complaint or a concern | rustic@ |
| Press and media | Press page |
| Jobs and summer staff | Careers |
Can families outside the United States enroll?
Rustic Pathways welcomes students of any nationality, and the enrollment forms accept international phone numbers and addresses. Programs run in English and expect conversational English from every student.
Visa invitation letters are provided where a destination requires one. The visa itself stays the traveler's responsibility.
What if I am already enrolled, or have a student traveling now?
The parent portal at myrustictrip.com holds the details this page cannot: the 24/7 emergency number, accommodation, the daily itinerary, and Safe Arrival and Departure updates.
Enrolled families also get WhatsApp access to the Country Director running the program, and can request a consultation with the Medical Director directly.
What happens if a situation is active?
- The Program Leader responds on site, carrying emergency equipment and authorized to act before checking in.
- A response team activates within 8 minutes of the incident being reported.
- Parents are notified in an average of 27 minutes, once the student is stable.
- Updates continue as new information is confirmed, until the situation is resolved.
How quickly will I be notified?
- Critical: within 1 hour
- Serious: within 4 hours
- Moderate: within 24 hours
- Minor: in the post-program summary
What happens after you contact Rustic Pathways?
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Routed by inquiry type
Your message reaches the team that owns that program area.
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An advisor reads it
Rustic Pathways advisors work with families full time and know the programs firsthand.
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A reply within one business day
By whichever channel you used to get in touch.
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Programs matched to your teen
Filtered by age, destination, duration, and activity level.
What do families ask Rustic Pathways most?
What are the support hours and wait times?
Rustic Pathways answers phones Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm US Eastern, and replies to general inquiries within one business day.
Safety questions are answered within four hours and emergencies immediately. Families with a student currently traveling have 24/7 emergency access for the length of the program.
What is included in the program tuition?
The program fee includes lodging, all meals, in-country transportation, domestic flights, airport transfers, activities, entrance fees, gratuities, and 24-hour Program Leader supervision.
Families purchase insurance separately. Every traveler must have medical insurance with coverage in the destination country. Travel insurance is recommended.
Program tuition does not include the non-refundable enrollment fee, international airfare, passport and visa fees, personal spending money, or optional chaperoned group flights.
Program prices start at $1,995, and each program lists its own price and dates.
How does Rustic Pathways keep students safe?
Rustic Pathways maintains a median of one staff member for every 4.37 students. No program exceeds 7 students per staff member.
That median held across all 2025 and 2026 programs, and it is 56% fewer students per staff member than the ACA's 10:1 teen overnight standard.
Rustic Pathways publishes quarterly incident data and color-codes incidents by severity. The full safety architecture and incident record documents how each tier is defined across a twelve-year record.
How do I raise a complaint or a concern?
Email rustic@rusticpathways.com and a supervisor will follow up with you directly.
Concerns about a student currently traveling are handled faster through the safety route, which answers within four hours.
What age students can travel with Rustic Pathways?
Rustic Pathways serves students ages 14 to 18. Spring break and summer programs are built around the high school calendar.
Families comparing options can filter by age, destination, duration, service focus, and activity level.
Can I talk to Rustic Pathways alumni families?
Rustic Pathways connects prospective families with alumni families from comparable programs on request. Referrals account for 65% of new families, so alumni parents willing to take the call are usually available.
Any admissions counselor can set one up, and what parents and students say afterwards is collected separately if you would rather read first.
Does Rustic Pathways accommodate dietary restrictions and medical conditions?
Rustic Pathways accommodates allergy, religious, vegan, gluten-free, and Celiac diets, subject to destination-specific limitations. A diagnosis alone never disqualifies a student.
Managed conditions, including asthma, diabetes, ADHD, anxiety, and allergies, are accommodated when disclosed before travel.
The Medical Director reviews complex or unstable conditions based on the specific itinerary, and first-time traveler guidance explains what to disclose and when.
Who will I be talking to?
Advisors who work with families full time.
Emily Green
Admissions Counselor
Dr. William R. Smith, MD
Medical Director, board-certified in emergency medicine
Dr. Smith is a board-certified emergency physician and U.S. Army Colonel with more than 20 years of wilderness-medicine experience, and has held the role since 2015. His work in wilderness and expedition medicine is documented on Wikipedia.
Parents can request a direct consultation.
Why families trust Rustic Pathways
Published safety data across 43 years of operation.
12 years
Incident data published quarterly since 2014, color-coded by severity, across 55,702 travelers.
8 minutes
Response team activation, measured from the moment an incident is reported.
38 countries
Staffed by 150+ local partner organizations, most in partnership three years or longer.
See the full Rustic Pathways safety architecture, staffing, and incident data
Awards and independent review scores
Global Youth Travel Award
Best Youth Tour Operator, won four times in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Awarded by the WYSE Travel Confederation.
Travel Weekly Magellan Award
Gold, Outstanding Health & Safety Innovations, 2024.
Independent review scores
4.9 on Trustpilot, 4.9 on GoOverseas, 4.8 on Google, and 4.7 out of 5 from 202 reviews on GoAbroad.
Where is Rustic Pathways located?
6082 Pinecone Drive, Mentor, OH 44060
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm US Eastern
Follow Rustic Pathways
What else should I read before deciding on a teen travel program?
Where do I find Rustic Pathways policies?
Questions about cancellations, changes, or billing go to rustic@rusticpathways.com, and the enrollment terms set out what applies in each case.
Talk to a Rustic Pathways advisor
No commitment, and a reply within one business day.
155,829 alumni since 1983 · 38 countries